Quetta - At least 34 people were killed and hundreds of other wounded in a devastating earthquake that hit different parts of Balochistan on Tuesday destroying as many as 1,500 mud-houses.
Mashkhail, an area close to Iran border, was badly hit by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
Tremors jolted various districts of Balochistan around 3:44 pm, including Quetta, Washuk, Panjgur, Sibi, Bolan, Chaman, Turbat, Loralai, Naseerabad, Dera Murad Jamali, Harnai, Kharan, Pasni, Khuzdar, Hub, Mashkhail and others areas.
The Met office sources said that epicenter of 7.9 magnitude earthquake was Seistan-i-Balochistan in the neighbouring Iran, some 82 kilometers in the depth of the earth which continued for 15 to 22 seconds. As a result, at least 34 people were killed in Mashkail area of Washuk district.
Former MNA from Mashkhail Ahsan Ullah Reki said that Mashkhail was completely destroyed in the quake and no one was carrying out relief activities in the area.
A local journalist said 12 deaths and 18 injures had been reported in Mashkhail town while more casualties were being reported from other small and scattered villages. “People are busy in removing debris and facing difficulties due to lack of machinery and manpower,” he said, adding, that injured were also facing difficulties as few doctors were available to provide first aid to them. Several injured were shifted to other districts, including Kharan. “The death toll may go up as still the local administration has not reached far-flung villages,” he added.
Nihal Khan, an affectee from Mashkhail city told TheNation via phone that hundreds of mud-houses throughout Mashkhail had been razed completely.
However, he said, cemented houses had developed cracks only.
“Dozens of villages, including Sotagan, Hawhogay, Kalag, Reki have been destroyed while dead bodies of eight people, including three children have been retrieved from the debris by local people themselves,” he said.
When contacted, District Commissioner Washuk, Khan Bangulzai said the communication system was disrupted in Mashkhail.
There were no reports of casualties from others districts bordering Washuk. DG Provincial Disaster Management Authority Tahir Minhas said PDMA had started the relief works and had sent relief trucks to the Khalid Airbase for carriage through helicopters to quake-hit areas.
Provincial government had declared a state of emergency in the quake-hit area. Balochistan’s Caretaker Chief Minister Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Barozai chaired an emergent meeting and directed concerned authorities to immediately start rescue and relief activities.
Agencies add: Pakistan military was mobilised to help the relief effort after the quake brought down homes in the Mashkhail area.
Two military helicopters carrying medical teams have been sent to the area while paramilitary troops were being moved to supplement the relief efforts.
Tremors were also felt across Pakistan, shaking buildings in Islamabad and prompting many to flee into the streets of Karachi in terror.
The quake also shook buildings as far away as the Gulf and New Delhi.
Crisis management authorities declared a state of emergency in the quake-hit area, Iran’s official news agency IRNA said, but so far there have been no confirmed deaths on the Iranian side.
A local health official in Iran told the Fars news agency that more than 20 villages were probably “severely damaged”, based on initial reports.
At least 27 people were hurt in Iran on Tuesday, according to a local governor speaking to IRNA, but there was no immediate confirmation of any deaths.
The head of Iran’s Red Crescent rescue corps, Mahmoud Mozafar, said communications to the stricken areas have been cut.
Across the Gulf the quake shook buildings in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and was also felt in the Saudi capital Riyadh and in Oman. The quake was also strongly felt in Kuwait, Bahraini capital Manama, Indian capital New Delhi.